Controlling Implanted Blood Pumps

1. A blood pump controller comprising: a microcontroller configured to: communicate with blood pump communication modules, each module having one of various identifiers, determine, based on communication with a particular blood pump communication module, the identifier of the particular blood pump communication module communicated with, select, based on the determination of the identifier of the particular type of blood pump communication module, one of various sets of control logic, the selected set of control logic being used to control the particular blood pump communication module, and generate, based on the selected set of control logic, commands for controlling the blood pump communication module; and a communication interface configured to connect the microcontroller to the particular blood pump communication module.

2. The blood pump controller of claim 1 , further comprising two or more blood pumps connected to the blood pump communication module, and wherein the control logic calculates, based on status and configuration information received from the blood pump communication module, speeds for the two or more blood pumps.

3. The blood pump controller of claim 1 , wherein the microcontroller is further configured to receive status and configuration information from the blood pump communication module.

4. The blood pump controller of claim 3 , further comprising a system display module configured to display a subset of the status and configuration information received from the blood pump communication module.

5. The blood pump controller of claim 1 , further comprising a network interface module configured to output patient data to a patient monitoring device.

6. The blood pump controller of claim 1 , further comprising a reference signal module configured to generate time based signals and precision voltages that are utilized in fault detection.

7. A system comprising: two or more blood pumps; a blood pump communication module connected to the two or more blood pumps; and a blood pump controller connected to the blood pump communication module, the blood pump controller including a microcontroller configured to: communicate with various blood pump communication modules, each module having one of various identifiers, determine, based on communication with a particular blood pump communication module, the identifier of the particular blood pump communication module communicated with, select, based on the determination of the identifier of the particular type of blood pump communication module, one of various sets of control logic, the selected set of control logic being used to control the particular blood pump communication module, and generate, based on the selected set of control logic, commands for controlling the blood pump communication module.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the blood pump communication module is configured to connect to two axial flow blood pumps, the blood pump communication module comprising: a first blood pump microcontroller configured to monitor flow information in a first of the axial flow blood pumps, and generate, based on the generated commands, signals to energize coils in the first of the axial flow blood pumps in a sequence necessary to operate the first of the axial flow blood pumps at a specific speed; and a second blood pump microcontroller configured to monitor flow information in a second of the axial flow blood pumps, and generate, based on the generated commands, signals to energize coils in the second of the axial flow blood pumps in a sequence necessary to operate the second of the axial flow blood pumps at a specific speed.

9. The blood pump controller of claim 8 , wherein the blood pump communication module further comprises a backup microcontroller configured to monitor the operational states of the first blood pump microcontroller and the second blood pump microcontroller, and, when either the first blood pump microcontroller or the second blood pump microcontroller fails, assume operations of the failed blood pump microcontroller.

10. The blood pump controller of claim 8 , wherein the blood pump communication module further comprises a universal connector configured to connect the first blood pump microcontroller to the first of the axial flow blood pumps and connect the second blood pump microcontroller to the second of the axial flow blood pumps.

11. The blood pump controller of claim 10 , wherein the first blood pump microcontroller is further configured to: determine if a blood pump is connected to the universal connector; determine, when a blood pump is determined to be connected to the universal connector, a type of the blood pump that is connected to the universal connector; and send, to the microcontroller, the type of the blood pump that is connected to the universal connector.

12. The blood pump controller of claim 11 wherein the microcontroller is further configured to: determine if the type of the blood pump that is connected to the universal connector is a type of blood pump that is supported by the blood pump communication module; and send the generated commands to the blood pump communication module when the blood pump that is connected to the universal connector is a type of blood pump that is supported by the blood pump communication module.

13. The blood pump controller of claim 7 , wherein the blood pump communication module is configured to connect to two centrifugal flow blood pumps, the blood pump communication module comprising: a first blood pump communication interface configured to monitor flow information in a first of the centrifugal flow blood pumps, buffer a first portion of the generated commands, and communicate the first portion of the generated commands to the first of the centrifugal flow blood pumps; a second blood pump communication interface configured to monitor flow information in a second of the centrifugal flow blood pumps, buffer a second portion of the generated commands, and communicate the second portion of the generated commands to the second of the centrifugal flow blood pumps.

14. The blood pump controller of claim 13 , wherein the blood pump communication module further comprises a universal connector configured to connect the first blood pump communication interface to the first of the centrifugal flow blood pumps and connect the second blood pump communication interface to the second of the centrifugal flow blood pumps.

15. The blood pump controller of claim 7 , wherein the blood pump communication module is configured to connect to an axial flow blood pump and a centrifugal flow blood pump and comprises: a blood pump microcontroller configured to monitor flow information in the axial flow blood pump, and generate, based on a first portion of the generated commands, signals to energize coils in the axial flow blood pump in a sequence necessary to operate the axial flow blood pump at a particular speed; a backup microcontroller configured to monitor the operational state of the blood pump microcontroller, and, when the blood pump microcontroller fails, assume operations of the blood pump microcontroller; a blood pump communication interface configured to monitor flow information in the centrifugal flow blood pump, buffer a second portion of the generated commands, and communicate the second portion of the generated commands to the centrifugal flow blood pump; and a universal connector configured to connect the blood pump microcontroller to the axial flow blood pump and connect the blood pump communication interface to the centrifugal flow blood pump.

16. The system of claim 7 , wherein the blood pump controller further includes a communication interface configured to connect the microcontroller to the blood pump communication module.

17. A method comprising: communicating with blood pump communication modules, each module having one of various identifiers; determining, based on communication with a particular blood pump communication module, the identifier of the particular blood pump communication module communicated with; selecting, based on the determination of the particular type of blood pump communication module, one of various sets of control logic, the selected set of control logic being used to control the particular type of blood pump communication module; and generating, based on the selected set of control logic, commands for controlling the blood pump communication module.

18. The system of claim 7 , wherein the blood pump controller is wirelessly connected to the blood pump communication module.

19. The system of claim 7 , further comprising a medical monitor connected to the blood pump controller, wherein the microcontroller of the blood pump controller is configured to send information regarding an operating state of the blood pump controller to the medical monitor.

20. The system of claim 7 , wherein the medical monitor is wirelessly connected to the blood pump controller.

21. The method of claim 17 , wherein: communicating with blood pump communication modules comprises sending a signal to the particular blood pump communication module and receiving a response from the particular blood pump communication module; and selecting one of various sets of control logic comprises comparing the response received from the particular blood pump communication module to a table of different expected responses, each of the different expected responses being associated with a different blood pump communication module.

22. The method of claim 17 , wherein: communicating with various blood pump communication modules comprises sending a signal to the particular blood pump communication module and receiving a response from the particular blood pump communication module; and determining the identifier of the particular blood pump communication module communicated with comprises analyzing at least one of a format or content of the response received from the particular blood pump communication module.

23. The method of claim 17 , wherein determining the identifier of the particular blood pump communication module communicated with comprises detecting a change in resistive characteristics or voltage level at a common signal interface.